Slides from presentation "Students as partners to produce digital learning materials and evaluate mobile learning approaches". Given on Wednesday 3rd July 2013 at the Higher Education Academy Annual Conference (theme "Powerful partnerships: defining the learning experience"). This presentation was given under the strand "students as partners". I was also asked to give this presentation again at the HEA STEM workshop "Engaging students as partners in the STEM disciplines". This was held at Leeds University on 28th November 2013. Outline: "This paper will detail the experience of using interns and undergraduate project students to create and evaluate interactive learning materials for a laboratory training module in biomedical sciences. An intern and three project students created interactive multimedia eBooks for the module Experimental techniques in neuroscience, and configured tablet devices with a wide range of freely available learning related apps. Students taking the module had access to these materials and apps on the tablet devices, for a four-week period. There were two strands to the project. In the first, learning materials were created to support laboratory work in the module. Videos were created to highlight techniques and to demonstrate equipment. These videos, along with other learning materials, were incorporated into multimedia interactive eBooks, designed using iBooks Author, and provided to students on the iPads. The second strand looked at the students’ use of apps on the iPad and investigated changes in study behaviour throughout the project. The project students used structured interviews, questionnaires and data from the tablet devices to collect data on usage of the materials and apps, and to evaluate the learning materials. The learning materials created will be made available as Open Educational Resources. The session will reflect on the methodology, results and implications of the project, using video diaries from the students involved in the project. This session relates to the conference strand ‘students as partners’, detailing how students can be engaged to design materials for learning and lead the evaluation of these resources."

1. School of something
FACULTY OF OTHER
ULBERG
FACULTY OF BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
Students as partners to produce
digital learning materials and evaluate
mobile learning approaches
Hayley Atkinson and Dr Neil Morris

2. Dissertation students and a student intern worked with Dr Neil
Morris to:
• Assist with a HEA collaborative grant funded project,
• Design eBooks based on pre-existing materials,
• Choose apps to be made available to students via an iPad,
• Design tutorials to guide app usage,
• Design a research methodology to investigate student use of the eBooks
and iPads,
• Design surveys to capture data from students using the eBooks and
iPads.
The background

3. The context
students as researchers students as content creators types of partnerships

4. Students as researchers

5. Students as content creators
Advantages for the content creators:
• Technology skills,
• Communication skills,
• Understanding of copyright concepts.
Advantages for the content consumers:
• Materials presented by students with knowledge of module,
• Concepts explained by peers

6. Students as content creators:
eBooks
http://lutube.leeds.ac.uk/libha/videos/9953

7. Students as content creators:
eBooks
Cutaneous testing
Immunofluorescence
Electrophysiology

8. Students as content creators:
eBooks
Digital literacy
Joe:
“I still feel immensely proud of what I have produced; I think it looks
professional and smart, whilst also including all relevant information
to the practical, and having a good level of interactivity.”

9. Students as content creators:
eBooks
http://lutube.leeds.ac.uk/libha/videos/9940

10. Student perceptions: eBooks
Aesthetic appeal:
“I think the eBook is more inviting to use than the hand-outs, like before the
lab I wanted to go over some of the material and I went straight to the iPad
because the eBook looks nicer and it explains it well”
Skills training:
“I've used the eBooks just in practical
[classes] with the videos, sometimes
its better to have a pictorial display
instead of just a written protocol to
understand how to do things
particularly in dissections.”

11. Students as content creators:
iPad tutorials
iPad apps
app tutorials

12. Access to learning resources:
“Well I’ve got the access to internet in lectures. I think the main thing I’ve
used it for is cos it’s portable and easy to carry around and stuff, so I’ve
always got access to you know the internet and VLE wherever I am, I don’t
have to get a computer. Accessibility is probably the main thing it’s
changed.”
Organisation and time management:
“I feel more organised, like before I was always the person asking other
people when assignments were due, but it took two minutes to set up and
I’ve found it really useful”
Student perceptions: study habits

13. Different types of student partnerships:
• Student intern,
• Dissertation students,
• Students as content users.
Working with students

14. Benefits to students
Communication
“Interviews during the practical classes enabled me to develop
communicational skills.”
Academic skills
“It [the project] has provided me with valuable skills such as the capabilities
of literature searching and data analysis.“
Planning
“approaching students and teaching them how to use the iPad taught me
that that thorough preparation is essential as you are being looked upon to
give advice and instruction.”

15. Benefits to dissertation students:
teamwork
http://lutube.leeds.ac.uk/libha/videos/9941

16. Benefits to dissertation students:
organisation
http://lutube.leeds.ac.uk/libha/videos/9952

17. School of something
FACULTY OF OTHERBenefits to the project team
• Re-usable resources created,
• Time saved,
• Skills acquired.

18. School of something
FACULTY OF OTHERImplications
Students can be successful partners to create digital
material and evaluate mobile learning approaches.
• Students in research intense universities can make
positive contributions to pedagogic experimental design
due to critical evaluation skills,
• Students know each other demands and can pitch
resources at the right level,
• Students can help enormously where they have the IT
skills,
• Both structured and flexible working arrangements with
students can work.

19. School of something
FACULTY OF OTHER
ULBERG
FACULTY OF BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
Hayley Atkinson
h.atkinson@leeds.ac.uk
@ebookslearning
Dr Neil Morris
n.p.morris@leeds.ac.uk
@LT_tech_HE
University of Leeds Bioscience Education Research Group
@UL_BERG